The Defence Minister said it has been decided to give women permanent commission in the Army, Navy and the Air Force like their male counterparts.
This year's ceremony will conclude with Sare Jahan Se Acha.
"I congratulate all Indian citizens on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas. The sacrifices made by soldiers, which helped us win the Kargil war, will always be a source of inspiration for the armed forces," Rajnath Singh told reporters after paying the tributes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in paying tributes to the valour and sacrifices of Bangladeshi freedom fighters and Indian armed forces on the 50th anniversary of the occasion 'Vijay Diwas'.
Kovind, aged 76, was sworn in as the 14th President of India on 25 July, 2017.
Modi invoked the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata to assert that it is in Indian tradition to avoid war be it in Lanka or Kurukshetra and the country stands for world peace.
On his last day in office as the Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday paid tribute to martyrs at the National War Memorial in New Delhi on Tuesday. General Rawat remembered the brave personnel who had sacrificed their lives in the service of the nation. He also received his farewell Guard of Honour as the Army Chief at the South Block.
The nearly five-minute video captured glimpses of the lives of soldiers deployed along the ice-capped mountains of the high-altitude region including their round-the-clock vigil, training and combat readiness to deal with any threat.
A great war memorial goes beyond the list of dead, to contemplation of the phenomenon of war. To me as a civilian, it didn't matter that our war memorial stood under India Gate, a creation of the British; it didn't matter that it didn't name all the fallen. The fact that we embraced it and respected it made it an unforgettable war memorial, notes Shyam G Menon.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday handed over to the armed forces indigenously-developed light combat helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and electronic warfare systems for the warships, in reflection of India's focus to boost its domestic defence industry.
Modi will take oath for a second term on Thursday at 7 pm.
The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved the construction of National War Memorial and Museum near the famed India Gate in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the Army to involve international architects and builders along with domestic players while inviting bids for the construction of a "grand" national war memorial in the national capital.
The CDS has the option to focus on key areas of capability development to fight new generation wars or get bogged down in trying to bring cosmetic changes to humour the political leadership, asserts Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
The 73rd Independence Day was celebrated across the country with fervour.
In his hard-hitting speech at a gathering of ex-servicemen, the prime minister referred to the Bofors scam, AgustaWestland chopper scam, Rafale issue and inordinate delays in procurement of critical military platforms and ammunition by previous government.
General M M Naravane attended the Army Day parade for the first time as the Army chief. The Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year to mark Lieutenant General K M Cariappa taking over as commander-in-chief of the Indian Army in 1949 from General Francis Butcher, the last British commander-in-chief of India.
From a contingent of women bikers of Central Reserve Police performing daredevil stunts and participation of a 'tri-service formation' at the Republic Day parade, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi paying homage to the fallen soldiers at National War Memorial, the Republic Day celebration at the national capital witnessed many firsts.
A photo of the prime minister hugging Indian Space Research Organisation chief K Sivan after a last-minute setback that led to the loss of lander Vikram, was also put on display for visitors.
Turbans have been a highlight of the prime minister's sartorial choices at Independence Day and Republic Day events. Modi had sported a multi-coloured turban when he gave his sixth Independence Day speech from the rampants of the Red Fort last year after securing a second term. For his maiden Independence Day address as the prime minister in 2014, Modi had opted for a Jodhpuri bandhej turban in bright red colour with green at the tail.
The Centre decided to drop one of Mahatma Gandhi's favourite hymns Abide with me from this year's Beating Retreat ceremony as playing more Indian tunes would be appropriate in view of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, which celebrates the 75th year of India's Independence, government sources said on Sunday.
The nation celebrated the 71st Republic Day on Sunday with a grand military parade and exhibition of its history, cultural diversity and strategic weaponry at the Rajpath.
On his first day as CDS, General Rawat paid tribute at the National War Memorial in the heart of New Delhi near India Gate. He wore the uniform representing his parent service.
He slammed the Samajwadi Party for being sympathetic towards terrorists and claimed that the previous government headed by it had sought to withdraw cases against several terror accused as 'a return gift'.
Even though it is faced with numerous challenges, India is evacuating its people from the war-ravaged Afghanistan and will continue to do, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday while unveiling the renovated Jallianwala Bagh memorial through video conferencing.
Major Nikhil Maurya and Major Tarun Rathee will be leading the marching contingent of the Indian Army's Parachute Regiment Special forces on Republic Day.
American armaments dominated the defence services's show of weaponry.
Celebrating its 89th anniversary, the Indian Air Force on Friday put up a dazzling show with 75 aircraft, drawn from its vintage and modern fleet, performing skilful manoeuvres also marking the platinum jubilee year of India's Independence.
It said there is no part of the country that he did not visit during the 125 days between December 25 and May 1 as he crisscrossed from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Jamnagar to Silchar, while speaking to students to scientists, farmers, entrepreneurs, foreign heads of state and political workers.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
India is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the historic 1999 Kargil conflict, which was termed 'Operation Vijay' by the Indian Army. To commemorate the event, the day of celebrations is marked as the 'Kargil Vijay Diwas'. It was on this day 20 years ago that the Indian Army managed to make the Pakistani forces withdraw along the Line of Control, hoisting the tricolour atop the high-altitude Kargil, in Jammu-Kashmir.
'Nowhere amidst the efflorescence of 13 military bands, 16 marching contingents and 22 tableaux was there any hint that far from being a rich country of poor people, the closely guarded secret is that India is a poor country of extremely rich people,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
With Defence Minister A K Antony rejecting her opposition to build a national war memorial at the India Gate, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has sought United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi's intervention on the issue.
India displayed its military might and vibrant cultural heritage on Rajpath on Wednesday with the grandest flypast with 75 aircraft to mark the 'Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav' celebrations being the highlight of the 73rd Republic Day Parade, which was drastically scaled down in view of the Covid pandemic.
The Indian Army will showcase the main battle tank T-90 Bhishma, infantry combat vehicle BMP-II-Sarath, mobile autonomous launcher of the Brahmos missile system, multi-launcher rocket system Pinaka, electronic warfare system Samvijay among others during the parade on Tuesday, the Defence ministry noted.
He also mentioned responses of families of deceased CRPF men and said that the story of every family of martyrs is full of inspiration.
The Defence Ministry is looking for an "alternative site" for constructing the National War Memorial as the armed forces' proposal to build it at India Gate complex has been rejected by the government.
As defence minister, Singh's most crucial challenge will be to speed up the long-delayed modernisation of the three services besides ensuring overall coherence in their combat readiness.
Severely critical of China, Pompeo, cited killing of Indian Army personnel in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in a clash with the Chinese military, and asserted that both India and the US are taking steps to strengthen cooperation against all threats and not just those posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
India has too many small companies and this is inefficient. It should instead have only a handful of very large players running its economy and these giants can then compete with the world, observes Aakar Patel.
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